


Conner Kent Vs. The Bat Family

by Militaraii



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: M/M, Other characters will appear, but they still kinda have super powers??, inspired by scott pilgrim, most are minor, not canon au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-16
Updated: 2015-01-06
Packaged: 2018-02-17 15:42:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2314814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Militaraii/pseuds/Militaraii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Let me get this straight. I have to fight-“ <br/>“Not fight, defeat.” <br/>“-defeat six members of your family in order to date you?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. INTRODUCING

**Author's Note:**

> This work is inspired by the series Scott Pilgrim. It does not, however, follow the exact story. I'm actually really proud of this, though. Enjoy! :)

_Oh my god he said it._

 

Calm down.

Breath in. 

Breath out.

Breath in.

Breath in.

Too much! Breath out! Keep calm! 

 

“You want to date me?” Tim asked, eyebrows raising.

Conner fidgeted nervously, fingers inside his jeans, fingers outside his jeans.

“Well, yeah.”

“This isn’t a joke, right?”

“No, of course not. You think I’d do something like that to you?”

“No, it’s just…” Tim trailed a bit. “I think I’m going to have to pinch myself just to make sure I’m not dreaming.”

“Does this mean I can date you?”

“You always could.” Tim smiles. “You have to defeat six members of my family, though.”

“I have to what?”


	2. I HAVE TO WHAT?

“Let me get this straight. I have to fight-“

“Not fight, defeat.”

“- _defeat_ six members of _your_ family in order to date you?”

Tim sighed heavily. “Well, yeah.” Conner groaned and slumped  his head on the restaurant table. It was a pretty nice restaurant in Metropolis, one Conner had known after Clark had decided to treat Ma and Pa during a Parent’s Day or something, and decided to drag Conner along since he was home anyway. It was a 50’s themed restaurant, complete with a jukebox and colourful tiles.

“Isn’t it usually seven, though?” Conner asked, moving his head slightly so he could see Tim’s face. “Seven?” Tim takes a sip out of his strawberry milkshake. “Why seven?”

“I don’t know. Isn’t it more symbolic if it’s seven?”

“Symbolic, how?”

“Well, aren’t there like, seven deadly sins, or something?”

“So?”

“So, there’s also like, seven heavenly…what’s the opposite of sins?”

Tim rolls his eyes and scoots closer to Conner. “Look, Conner. It might seem intimidating. So if you don’t want to date me after all,” He sees Tim swallow, his eyes darting back and forth worriedly. “Just tell me, I guess.”

Tim looks incredibly sad. The waitress puts their burgers and fries down, and Tim thanks her and she leaves promptly.

“I’ll even pay for dinner so it’s as if it never happened.” It’s in a very soft voice, as if it’s almost a mutter. A regret. Conner doesn’t like that look on his face. If anything, he wants to wipe that sadness off Tim’s face.

“Are you kidding? I’d defeat anyone who’ll stand in the way of me dating you!”

Tim smiles brightly, and Conner can’t remove that beautiful image from his mind.

Conner leans in to kiss Tim, and in that moment-

Tim’s cellphone rings.

It’s an odd little tune, and Tim scrambles to get the phone out of his sling bag. Conner takes a peek in the split second that Tim opens it, and sees nothing but complete and utter darkness. Huh. He expected it to be more organized, with little pockets by the side and everything neatly stacked together. How can Tim even see anything in there?

“Tim Drake, speaking.” Tim’s voice is lower than usual, and Conner suspects it’s a member of the family. He takes the opportunity of Tim speaking and making little ‘uh-uhs’ at the phone to eat at the burgers. Tim lets out an exasperated sigh, and drops the phone into his bag. Conner’s eyebrows raise violently at both the sigh and the phone that seemed to have fallen into the nothingness of Tim’s bag.

“What’s wrong?” Conner asks, swallowing a little bit of his cheeseburger. “Remember when you said about how there’s usually seven?” Tim says, playing with the straw in his milkshake.

“Yeah?”

“Well, now there’s seven.”

“Wait, no way!”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.”

Conner groans heavily, and his cellphone rings. “What the hell is that ringtone? Is that Taylor Swift?” Tim laughs as Conner reaches into his jean pocket. “Shake It Off is a really catchy song, okay?”  Conner smiles, and looks at his phone in confusion.

“What’s up?” Tim asks, noticing the way Conner’s eyebrows furrow.

“I don’t know this number.” He puzzles, but answers it anyway.

“Hello? It’s Conner.”

_“Conner?”_  The voice asks, and it’s a woman’s voice. “ _As in, Kent?”_

“Yes,” Conner’s eyes narrow. “And, who is this?”

_“My name is Helena Bertinelli, and I’ll be your first bat-family member.”_

“Uh,” Conner’s eyes shift immediately to Tim, and Tim returns the gaze. “What is it?” Tim mouths out.

_“That sounded a lot cooler in my head.”_

“You _gave_ your eldest sister my number?” Conner whispers urgently. “What? No!” Tim replies.

“Oh my god, what do I do?”

_“You still there, kiddo?”_

“I will defeat you!” Conner replies dumbly, (and quite louder than he expected to).

Tim sinks in his chair, obvious blush spread across his cheeks. There’s laughter on the other line.

_“Oh my god, I was right. You are a loser.”_ Helena laughs out. _“I mean, no offense. I just wanted to be part of this. I don’t really care. I just heard Tim was dating a Kent. Just wanted to know, I guess. You can date him. Bye, kiddo.”_

The line went dead with a bleeping sound.

“So, what happened?” Tim asks, moving his hand slowly towards Conner’s hand. “I guess I defeated her?”

They stared at each other for a while, before bursting into laughter. “Congratulations?” Tim offers, giggling in between.

“Isn’t she supposed to like, burst into coins or hand me a power-up?”

“ _Why_ would Helena burst into coins?”

“I don’t know. Like, a bonus reward?”

Tim chuckles and pecks Conner’s cheek. “That’s your reward. You’re now officially defeating my brooding family.” Conner grins and wraps his arm around Tim. Tim is small against him, but it doesn’t bother him at all. “Can my reward be different?” He asks, leaning closer to Tim.

Tim lets out a little giggle, “I’m not paying for dinner, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Conner pinches his cheek. “No, something else.”

Tim raises his eyebrow playfully. “What do you want, then?”

“Can we make out?”

The message is pretty blunt, and Tim is a little stunned. “We can make out on the ride home.”

Conner’s eyes brighten. “Sweet.”

Conner’s phone bleeps, and he picks it up. There’s a message on his phone.

_“You two are hopeless.”_

Conner frowns, although he does know it is a playful message. Whatever, Helena. Who knew defeating the first member of the bat family was this easy?

Wait a minute. How did she even get his number?

Conner shook his head, not wanting to deal with all the plot holes.

He would like to keep doing this, though. Have Tim curling against him, promising a hot make out session.

Oh yeah, he would _definitely_ like to keep doing this.


	3. I DON'T FIT IN THE COUCH

 “Bart? You in here?” Conner calls. It’s a shared apartment he and Bart had in New York. It wasn’t very spacious, but it was better to go by since most of their part time jobs took place in New York. It’s not very big, but they did manage to pay the bills even by a little. Clark, being a somehow father figure, would pitch in from time to time. Bart also managed to pay his own bills even without Conner’s help.

“No, don’t get in the room!” The call is urgent, and Conner has to stop himself before opening the door to the bedroom. They share a bedroom, although the bed has a pull out so they don’t end up sleeping together or something. “Hold on!” Conner can hear a shuffle of sheets, and a thump on the floor. And a girl’s voice?

The door opens to reveal a messy Bart with his hair sticking up in random places, sticky pink lipstick all over his face, and his trailing down his chest, and Conner does not want to look _there,_ even if Bart is at least covering himself with a blanket. He’s peeking out of the door, obviously wanting to keep this as short as possible.

“I take it I’m not sleeping here tonight?” Conner frowns at his roommate. “No, you’re not. There’s a couch, thank you. We might be a little loud.” Bart winks, and Conner groans. “I don’t fit in the couch.”

“Well, make yourself fit.”

“You’re not really helping.”

“You have anywhere you can stay tonight?”

“I don’t know. Clark’s?”

“Yeah, you can stay there.”

“Can I at least have some clothes?”

“No. Bye, Conner. Come back tomorrow afternoon, probably.”

“Afternoon? I need to talk to you!”

“Tomorrow afternoon!” Bart barks out, closing the door promptly. Conner’s head hit the wall with a loud groan, followed by sloppy kissing noises from the room. Conner cringes at the sounds and decides to go out and text Clark. He’s in a decent outfit, anyway.

_“hey cn i stay 4 the nyt”_

He texts, his thumbs jumbling against his keys. He’s already out of the apartment, and wandering around the streets, until he hears a bleep from his phone.

Low battery. Not even a text.

Taking a deep breath, he browsed through his contacts. There was somebody who’d be willing to take him in at this hour of the night, right? Maybe he could stay with Kara?

_“hey r u still awake”_

_“Yes, why?”_ The text is almost immediate. God damn, Tim texts in correct grammar. It makes Conner that slightest bit embarrassed.

_“okay, where are you?”_

_“Why?”_

_“got kinda kicked out by roommate. can I crash?? Its cool if no, tho”_

_“What? Where are you?”_

_“still in metropolis sorry”_

_“Okay, I’ve got an apartment in Bludhaven. We can stay there._ _J_ _.”_

_“sorry again”_

_“It’s okay. I’m going to pick up some clothes there tomorrow, anyway. Don’t worry about it. :D !!”_

Conner flips his phone to Clark’s number, _“ok nvm stayin w sum1 els”_

Who said he had to use proper grammar all the time?

Tim’s leaning on the wall of the building they were supposed to meet in. “I’m sorry. It’s kind of late, and it’s raining.” Conner says sadly as Tim removes his earphones at the sight of Conner. “It’s okay. Really.” Tim leans up to kiss his cheek. Tim closes his umbrella, and they walk towards Tim’s room, and Conner laughs a little as Tim fumbles for his keys.

He turns the light on when they finally enter, and it’s a pretty big apartment. Neat little books on the cabinets, matching lamps and organized equipment. “Wow. This is nice.” Conner says, eyes looking around. Tim chuckles, and closes the door behind him. “Thank you. Cass and I try to keep it clean and organized. We don’t usually come back here, though.”

“Cass?”

“My sister.”

“Oh, right. Her.”

“You know her?”

“Sort of. I guess.”

“That’s cool. Not a lot of my friends recognize Cass.” Tim smiles a little. Conner remembers Cass. She had short black hair, and almond black eyes, and small little lips. He remembered that cute little face of hers, and even if he didn’t really feel so much attracted to her as he did before, Conner did look forward to seeing her again.

“Do you want some tea?”

“Sure.”

“What kind of tea do you want?”

“There’s more than one tea?”  

“We’ve got blueberry, raspberry, ginseng, sleepy time, green tea, green tea with lemon, green tea with lemon and honey, liver disaster, ginger with honey, ginger without honey, vanilla almond, white truffel, blueberry chamomile, vanilla walnut, constant comment and... earl grey.”

“…Did you make some of those up?”

“I think I’m going to have sleepytime.” Tim smiles, taking the packet out of the top drawer. “Yeah, I’ll have that too.” Conner says, running his arms around his sides. The rain wasn’t stopping, it was just getting stronger and stronger, and even the lightning flashed a little. “Is the weather around these parts always this bad?” Conner says, tapping on the window, just as the thunder cracks. Tim laughs at the comment. “Always and forever.” He takes off his sweater, and that’s when Conner realizes that Tim’s sweater had gotten wet from the rain. Tim catches Conner’s gaze on his sweaters, and smiles sweetly at him. “Don’t apologize. I slipped on a puddle. It’s not your fault.”

Tim walks towards the bedroom. “I’ll get you a duvet, you shivering mess.” Tim laughs from the room. “Sure.” Conner calls back. Conner takes it as an opportunity to look around the room. It’s very neat, and for a room that Tim and his sister never really came home to, it was very nice. He wondered how they were able to clean every nook and cranny of this room.

The lightning flashed for a split second, and the thunder cracked loudly. There was a thud from the bedroom. Eyes widening, Conner got up from the chair and moved to Tim’s room. “Tim, are you-“

Tim looks behind him in surprise, and Conner sees there are some shirts and belts that have fallen from the cabinet, and a suitcase on the floor. That’s not what gets his attention, though.

It’s Tim, denim pants down,  shirt off, and in white briefs.

“Dude, I’m changing.” He says bluntly, and turns around ever so slowly. It should have been funny to Conner, seeing him in those white briefs, but since it’s Tim, it’s kind of the hottest thing he’s ever seen. Conner realizes that he’s being rude, staring at Tim like that, and covers his eyes with his hands.

He hears Tim chuckle a bit. “Here, is this okay?” Tim asks. There’s a sort of warmth around Conner. “Hey, that feels pretty nice. What is that?” He removes his hands, to see Tim smiling at him, inches away from his face.

“Oh.”

Tim’s body is pressed against his, and Tim still isn’t wearing anything. Tim is close enough for Conner to fully observe his face, with his perfect eyesight and everything. Tim’s eyes are as blue as the sky, and his lips are a faint shade of pink. His face is fair, and the blush reaching his cheeks is pretty obvious from this distance.

Conner doesn’t know what he’s doing until he’s leaning closer and closer into Tim’s face, and suddenly Tim shuts his eyes and their lips meet. They’re _kissing_ , and it’s the best kiss Conner has ever had in the longest time. They move together, Conner’s hands sliding down Tim’s sides, Tim’s hands massaging Conner’s back.

“What about our tea?” Tim says, pulling away from the kiss. His expression is flushed, and he seems kind of embarrassed. Conner takes Tim’s hands in his, and pulls him closer to the bed. “What about it?” Conner says, and his eyes travel from Tim’s face, lower, then back at his face. Tim blushes furiously and Conner feels like he’s just received a power up of some sort, making his sexiness grow by two points. “O-oh. Okay.” Tim stutters a bit, and Conner finds it incredibly cute, until Tim leans into his face and opens his mouth.

They’re in the middle of a hot make out session, Conner had removed his shirt already, and Tim’s hands are fumbling with Conner’s belt buckle. His fingers are swift, and before Conner knows it, his pants are off. Tim leans in once more, and sits on Conner’s lap. Conner then pulls him closer, swinging Tim’s arms around his shoulders and-

Tim flops down to Conner’s side. “I’ve changed my mind.” Tim mutters, eyes looking anywhere but Conner. “I don’t want to do this yet.” Tim sighs and buries his face in the pillow. Conner takes a deep breath but reaches out to tuck Tim’s hair behind his hair. It’s kind of long for a guy, but Conner doesn’t mind. He thinks Tim should be able to look like whatever the hell he wants to look like. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’ll wait for you.” Conner winks jokingly, and Tim giggles a little. “Well, it’s not like I’m going to kick you out to heavy Bludhaven rain. You can sleep here.” Tim leans close to Conner and buries his face in his neck.

“Cool.” Conner smiles and watches as Tim shuts his eyes slowly. He wraps his arm around the smaller body, and closes his eyes, too. The thunder and lightning don’t mean anything compared to their undeniable sweetness. Sleeping next to Tim was the best feeling ever.


	4. ABANDONED BASE AT SEVEN, RIGHT?

“Okay. You need to go now.”

Conner wakes up to Tim shaking him. Conner groans and turns to see Tim wearing formal clothing. “I have work to do, okay? I know it’s pretty early but I have to drop some stuff back at Gotham. And you need to go.”

“But why?” Conner whines.

“Because I have to lock up.”

“But why?” Conner whines again, louder this time.

“Conner, you’ve got five seconds before I kick you out of this bed.”

“But I’m your boyfriend.”

“One.”

“…Right?”

“Two.”

“Okay, okay, getting out. Getting out, like, now.”

Tim chuckles at Conner’s attempts to move the blanket and comforter away and shuffle out of the bed. “Easy, there, big guy.” Tim smiles, casually fixing the bed. “You have fun at work, okay?” Conner says, almost slurs from early morning fuzz. “Ew. No way. It’s pretty boring in there.” Tim laughs.

“Aren’t you, like, Superboy of the Wayne Enterprises?”

“Oh. Psh.”

Tim has an adorable little laugh. The sides of his lips curl, and his nostrils wiggle a little. Conner leans down to peck on Tim’s cheek, but Tim puts a hand in the way. “No. You stink.”

Conner rolls his eyes and kisses Tim’s hand anyway. Tim groans, but gives him a wide smile and throws Conner’s shirt at his chest. “Get dressed already!”  

 

“Ewwww. You stink. Stinky man.” Bart laughs, opening the door for him. “Whose fault is that, jerk?” Conner puffs out. He’s halfway inside the actual apartment, when Bart grabs his shirt in a really fast motion. Conner jerks towards Bart’s direction, and Bart is staring intently at his shirt.

It’s sort of creepy, how fast Bart is. Conner thinks he may secretly be a ninja, probably. That could come in handy since he is, after all, defeating six members of Tim’s family. But Bart’s green eyes are looking directly at Conner’s shirt.

“Dude. What?”

“Your shirt…” Bart’s voice trails off. Even if he looks pretty serious, Conner can’t exactly take him seriously with that ridiculous bed hair of his. Conner’s not even sure if it’s red or brown or reddish brown or brownish red or maroon or bright maroon or is there even such a thing as bright maroon?

Bart looks up with a sly grin on his face. “This what I think it is?” He asks, slowly raising an eyebrow. “It’s my shirt,” Conner states, and looks down to where Bart is holding it, to where….the…tag….was in front of his face.

“Your shirt is the other way around.”

“Yeah, well,” Conner removes Bart’s hands from his shirt and enters the apartment. Bart laughs and shuts the door. “You had sex, didn’t you? I almost thought that wasn’t possible for you anymore.”

“I didn’t.”

“She didn’t want you back, or something?”

“Yeah, that’s why I needed to talk to you before, but apparently you were busy messing with some lady friend.”

“Hell yeah I was.”

“Ugh, Bart. I’m dating someone.”

“Seriously? No joke?”

“Yes, seriously.”

“How old?”

“Nineteen.”

“Oh my god, you’re dating a baby.”

“You’re nineteen.”

“Yeah, well you’re not dating me, are you? So who’s she?”

“It’s a dude.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. It’s Tim.”

Bart’s mouth is open, and his eyes are wide. “Tim? _Tim?_ You better take care of him! If you break his heart or something, he’s going to bust you up, man! And when you come home, I’m going to do the exact same thing to you. This is our bro, bro! You better not just be experimenting with him and-“

“I get it, Bart.”

“Oh my god, you had sex with Tim.”

“I didn’t have sex with Tim.”

“He didn’t want you?”

“Not that. He didn’t feel ready.”

“When does he ever.”

“Bart! No joking about my boyfriend!”

“Okay, I get it. You’re my bros, and you’re dating each other. It’s totally cool. Please take a bath now.”

“Okay.”

Conner takes his shirt off, even If it was on wrong in the first place.

Bart’s watching television when Conner finishes. “Is that some lame cop show?”

“No, Conner. It’s the news. You know, where real life things happen?” Bart says, turning his head to face Conner with a blank look. “Sure. Hey, I know that guy.” Conner says as the TV hums an opening, to where a very handsome cop is facing the screen.

“…although we’re happy to say that all’s good in the hood now.” A very hearty laugh comes out of the cop’s lips, and a few ladies swoon in the background. “Once again, this is Officer Grayson.” He signs off with a wink. “Man, what a player that guy is.” Bart snickers, obviously amused by the ladies in the back. “That’s one of Tim’s brothers.” Conner replies. “Hey, Wally West is like your bro, yeah?” He asks, taking a seat next to Bart on the couch.

“Yeah, I guess. Why?”

“He’s total bros-bros with Dick, right?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Quick. You need to call him.”

“Why? Is there some kinda emergency? You know, I’ll advice you, if there is an emergency, it’s most probably better to call the cop.”

“I need to defeat him.”

“You have to what?”

“Before I can, you know, officially date Tim, I’ve got to defeat like six of his family members.”

“Wow. That’s so him.”

“It’s not by choice, I think.”

“Do you need to call him now?”

“Yes!”

“He has a band called the Titans. It’s really dumb and everything, but I support it anyway. He’s the guitarist. They’re performing tomorrow at like seven, at the Abandoned Base. You go.”

“Why can’t you just call him?”

“Because, I’m going out.”

“No you’re no-“ Conner turns around to see Bart at the door, dressed and everything. “Wait, what? We were just here?” Conner exclaims, looking around the room. Bart whistles and does a salute, and shuffles out of the door.

“Bart!”

He sighs and sits down the couch. What the hell, it’s like rest day, anyway. He’s going to rest. Whatever.

“Hey, Tim?” He asks, the phone in his ear.

“Conner? I’m kind of in a meeting. Can I call back later?” Tim replies, his voice soft and quiet.

“I’m going to see the Titans perform tomorrow. Come with me?” Conner hates himself after just saying that. Dammit, Conner, he asked if he could call back later. It’s kind of quiet on the other line. “I’d love to, Conner. Abandoned Base at seven, right? I really have to go, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The phone cuts immediately.

Conner wishes that he could have cut Tim off before he finished speaking, and tell him that he loved him. It would have been pretty cute, he would _feel_ Tim blush on the other line, coughing in the back of his hand in embarrassment. Dammit, he could have done that! Did he love Tim that much, though?

_Of course he did, why would he even ask that to himself, stupid?_

Conner hits himself on the head with the idea, like someone’s stylus just banged his head on purpose. It’s blunt and kinda rounded, but it s _till freaking hurts, man._

Wait, how did Tim even know exactly where the Titans would be? Is he a fan?

Then again, Tim and Bart are pretty close, he must have known Wally was in a band. Conner frowns at the idea, Tim knowing more about Bart than him. Whatever. Tim’s not dating Bart, anyway. Unless he did a complete 360 and decided to break up with  Conner.

God damn, don’t think that way! That would suck even more.

There’s a shuffle by the refrigerator. Conner whips his head around, Bart wasn’t home so soon!

And he would have to get through the door in order to do that. Conner would have seen him.

It’s a very faint shuffle, he wouldn’t have seen the placemats on the table gently whoosh as if someone just ran past. What the hell. There can’t be any burglars here! There’s not much to steal, honestly. If the burglar were to steal, he’d steal from the lady upstairs. She was as rich as hell.

That’s when he notices there’s a paper on the board. It’s stark black. Conner gets up and reaches for it, there’s some shiny writing at the front. He has to put it near the sunlight to see the writing. UNWORTHY, it says underneath a very long handwritten piece, very small and messy. Conner raises his eyebrow in absolute confusion. He wonders how the paper got here in the first place. Whatever is written on top of the UNWORTHY lettering, Conner didn’t really bother reading. I mean, it was tiny and everything? How could anyone read such a thing without squinting?

That, or he needed his glasses to read it.

Should he be worried about this paper?

Nah.


	5. THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE SAY

Conner remembers this place. It’s kind of like a cave, and he and his friends used to hang out here a lot, when he still had that stupid undercut and his fake gold earring. Tim was one of those friends. He was younger, and he had a girlfriend back then. It was unfair, Tim was younger and shorter than him, how come he had a girlfriend?

But then again that was years ago. Tim had grown beautiful, stunning, and completely graceful in Conner’s eyes. Conner, he sees himself, had grown pretty swell. He had a better haircut, and he’s not wearing that earring anymore. His fashion sense is probably still the same, but he doubts that black leather jacket back then would fit him now.

And this place had grown into an absolute toilet.

He can’t believe he liked this place. But then again, bands from time to time do get acknowledged in here, if they’re lucky. “Oh, man! I remember this place!” Tim chuckles from behind him. Conner flinches in surprise. “Did I surprise you?” Tim’s holding back laughter, and Conner flicks him on the forehead playfully. Tim laughs and puts his bag down on the chair opposite Conner’s. They’re on the balcony and they’re already touching the rail.

There’s some rock band playing, but their melody is pretty soft. Tim hums the song, head moving up and down slowly. “You know this song?” Conner asks. “Yeah, it’s a cover. Dick used to sing it when we were younger.” Tim smiles fondly at the thought.

“Oh man, you are glowing.”

“Haha. Very funny, Conner.”

“No, really.”

“So I like talking about my brother.”

“No, you’re literally glowing. Literally.”

“…What?”

Conner blinks. Tim’s stopped glowing. “Nevermind. It stopped.” He shrugs. “You are so weird sometimes.” Tim states, but his lips are curling at the sides. “You picked a good spot.” Tim lays his elbows on the table, and leans into the rail. “This place is pretty crowded with people now, huh? I remember when we were younger, we used to hang around here with Bart.”

“Yeah. I remember that. You wore shades all the time.”

“Yeah.”

“So. You and Bart just kind of support the Titans whenever they come on stage?”

“Of course we do!”

“How long have you been a fan of this band?”

“Ever since it was founded, Conner.” Tim looks at Conner dumbfounded, as if he couldn’t believe Conner would ask such a question. Conner gives out an awkward smile and coughs at the back of his hand. Great, now he has Tim’s habits whenever he gets embarrassed and awkward. So naturally, Tim does know when Conner feels that way.

Their habits are compatible, so that’s a good thing?

“You want me to get some drinks?” Conner saves, glancing at the bar.

“Oh, I don’t drink. You can get me a cola.” Tim smiles.

Conner laughs as he leaves. He completely remembers the last time Tim got drunk, if that was the last time. It probably was, he didn’t think Tim would drink again after that. They’re at a party, and it just so happened to be here again, when it was much less of a toilet than it was now. Tim was seventeen, and since he was all angry about how-come-Bart-can-go-but-I-can’t, completely disregarding the fact that Bart was, indeed, two months older than him, and since those two months had passed Bart was already eighteen and legal.  It was, though, Rose’s birthday celebration. She was twenty, and so was Conner, and they just had to bring Tim along. No harm in breaking rules right?

“Alright, fine. You can go, alright?” Rose had said. “But you’re not getting drunk on my party.”

“Of course not.” Tim had replied, and it was an obvious lie.

An hour after chilling in the Abandoned Base, Tim was a flirty, giggling mess. Everyone knew he was drunk, and no one  had volunteered to bring him home. Tim had stared at Conner for the longest time, and he had even said, “I miss your pretty leather jacket. But you’re cooler now, I guess.” And it was followed by a giggle of sorts. Conner didn’t blush, (okay, fine, he did, a little), but volunteered to bring Tim home.

“Oh come on, let him drink a bit more.” Bart laughed, and Conner had frowned on him. ”Fine, fine, bring him home. But I’m not helping him deal with his very first hangover.”

“Dick!” Tim said, head turning to the side. “What?” Conner had replied dumbly. Rose had snickered, and Bart had raised a sly eyebrow. “Is he swearing or-“

“Tim?” Just then, the most handsome man appears in front of them. “Oh, hey, Dick.” Conner started awkwardly. Dick raised a questioning eyebrow at them, but Tim got up and gave him a huge bear hug. “Dick!” He smiled, and wrapped his legs around him. Tim looked like a giant spider draped over Dick Grayson. It was pretty cute, though. Conner had felt a tang of jealousy, but let it go. Tim was his best friend. (Back then.)

Dick had sighed, but his lip curled seeing his little brother like this. He looked back at the group. “Ah. Rose, your birthday?”

“Yeah.”

“Happy birthday, dear. Next drink is on me, okay?”

“Thanks.”

“I’m going to bring Timmers home, though. Hope that’s cool with you guys. He looks like he’s had enough to drink.” Dick grinned, wrapping his arms around Tim, and settling him down. “We’re going?” Tim asked softly. “Yeah, sorry bro.”

“No!!” Tim exclaimed, stepped back, and fell on Conner. “Conner?” Tim asked, and leaned into peck at his nose. “Conner.” He said once again, snuggling into Conner’s hold. Rose coughed awkwardly and Bart had held a snicker. A blonde in the corner had glared daggers at Conner, they were so harsh there was probably no difference between that glare and real daggers. Dick’s brow furrowed, but he picked Tim up out of Conner’s hold. “Wait, no! Dick!” Tim exclaimed, as Dick carried him princess style. “Bye, guys. Have fun, Rose!” Dick called as Tim flailed his hands around to try and get Dick to put him down.

“I can’t believe they got you drunk.” They hear Dick mutter mockingly, but Dick pecks his little brother’s forehead. Tim whined, pretty loudly, and the brothers walked out the door.

The next day, Tim had called them, apologizing for what he had done. They shrugged it off, but Tim was extremely embarrassed because of it.

Yup. That was a good memory.

When he gets to the bar counter, he lays his elbow on the counter.

“Excuse me, may I-“

The lady whips her silver hair around. “Conner!” She exclaims, snappy, and probably annoyed. “Rose? I thought you worked at the coffee shop with my sister!”

“I work here sometimes too, you ----- know. Also, I ------- heard you were ------- dating -------- Tim. I know he might be ----- cute or ------- any ------ you think, but let me ------- tell you, he’s so --------- out of your ------ league.”

“How are you doing that bleeping noise with your mouth?”

“It doesn’t ------ matter!”

When Conner returns to the table, there’s an extra two chairs, on sitting Bart. And Rose?

“Weren’t you just there?” Conner says, pointing to the bar, where a different lady is working. “What the hell.” Great, now everyone else besides him is a freaking ninja. “My shift was over a minute ago.” Rose snaps. “Sit the --- down.”

“They decided to sit here with us. I hope you don’t mind.” Tim says, ruffling Bart’s hair playfully. “Yeah, come on, Conner. Don’t be such an overprotective boyfriend.” Bart snickers, lengthening the word boyfriend, as if they were both fifteen and each other’s firsts.

Then again, Tim _was_ Conner’s first boyfriend.

Conner sits down, handing Tim his drink. “Is that cola?” Bart asks, leaning into the glass. “Yeah. I don’t drink.” Bart holds back a laugh, and Rose glances away for a second. “Oh, shut up.” Tim says, rolling his eyes. Of course even Tim remembers what happened during Rose’s birthday. Everyone does.

“Guys, they’re starting!” Bart whispers, and everyone flips their head to the stage. The Titans are there, setting their stuff. “I guess you can talk to Walls later. I’ve forgotten everyone else in his band, though.”

Conner sees Wally, all bright red and freckles, wearing a yellow shirt with a slick guitar. There’s a playful look in his eyes, ones that Bart has too. He looks at the other members, and _shit._

“Dick Grayson is the _singer?”_

Everyone in the table just kind of looks at Conner.

“Um. Yeah.” Tim starts awkwardly. “I thought you knew that, and you were going to defeat him for me?”

“I….uh….” Conner gulps and shoots a glance at Bart. Bart is whistling nervously, obviously not wanting to get into their conversation.

“Conner, I-“ The music cuts of whatever Tim is going to say.

“Why do you talk so loud?” Dick’s voice is on the microphone. “Why do you talk so?” It’s a pretty nice melody. Dick’s faking an accent, he thinks. Dick’s really great a doing _anything,_ really, so Conner wouldn’t be really surprised if it turned out Dick was faking an accent to them all along.

He looks around the band. The crowd seems to like them a lot, and he can understand their appeal. Everyone in the band was heart-stoppingly gorgeous. “They ----- have a ----- girl drummer!” Rose whispers angrily. “I think I --- hate her.”

“You doot doot hate everyone.” Bart smiles, mocking Rose’s magical mouth noise. “How are you doing that with your mouth, though?”

Conner’s glad he’s not the only one intrigued by the weirdness of Rose’s mouth. He checks out the band members, (not like he can ask Wally how to defeat Dick anyway, since _he’s already here and everything, thanks Bart!),_ and lo and behold, behind Wally there is a female drummer. She’s wearing a sparkly black top, and star spangled earrings. There are two men on the right. One of them is probably rhythm guitar, as Wally’s the one doing all the riffs. He has red hair too, but neater than Wally’s, and wearing red. The smaller man next to him has the bass, and has wavy black hair. He seems kind of nervous, wearing a red sweater and everything. “I know this song.” Conner says. “It played on the radio when I was covering Kara’s shift at the coffee store.” “It’s pretty popular, isn’t it?” Tim says.

He glances at Tim, and Tim looks as if this band is one of the sweetest things he’s ever seen. Tim must be really supportive of his brother’s band. He turns back to look at Dick and _oh shit._

_Dick is staring right at him._

Staring’s probably not the right word for it. Maybe glaring, or something like that.

_Dick is not quite staring but somehow glaring right at him._

He knows it’s him, I mean, it couldn’t be Tim, or Bart, or Rose, or anyone else for that matter. It’s directly piercing _him._ “Passing grammatical mistakes, totally wrecked and polemic in the way he talks,” Dick is singing, and the crowd swoons and cheers. “God I ---- hate her.” Rose whispers in the background.

“Why you talk so?” Dick points an accusing finger at the group, and the spotlight passes by them. “This one’s for that buff dude wearing skinny jeans on the balcony!” He cries, the spotlight settling there. The band members look up, but they don’t seem to mind. Wally does the background vocals. “We don’t get alarms, we just use my dad’s arms, excess until we stop hearts,” Tim shields his eyes with his hands, and shoots a nervous glance at Conner.

This time, Conner is pretty sure Dick is glaring at him. Like, for real this time. Dick’s glare is pretty frightening.

“I think you’re trying too hard with your lungs in tar, and your kitchen full of pop stars.” Then suddenly, Dick’s on the freaking balcony rail, feet up, looking right at Conner. The guitar riffs once, and there seems to be some kind of supernatural force from it, although it only seems to affect Conner, as he bounces into the wall. Tim just stares wide-eyed at Conner, Rose is still staring at the drummer, and Bart is just kind of surprised. Dick is sparkling with power. And beauty. And hotness. And, you know, _actual sparkles._

“What the hell, Wally! Don’t do that to my friends!” Bart yells from the balcony.

“And I’ve been thinking lots about your mouth,” Wally continues the back vocals, but shrugs up at Bart.

“A conversation superseded by the way he talks,” Dick continues singing, this time even louder, and the crowd is kind of confused but they like how Dick’s suddenly so close to them. The band starts a force pushing Conner farther and farther away. “Why the ---- aren’t you ---- doing anything?” Rose asks, finally looking away, but rolling her eyes at Conner. “You’re like one of the best fighters, Conner.” Tim says subtly, and Bart raises an approving thumbs up.

“Tim, don’t encourage him.” Dick says, but Wally’s vocals keep going.

Conner takes a deep breath, and stands on his feet. “I know this song.” He mutters again.

“Why you talk so loud?” Conner sings loudly, and the crowd (and the band) is surprised. “Why you talk so?”

He sings it just before Dick can attack, (if that’s the term for it), cutting the band’s music altogether. “Why you talk so loud?”

“He’s singing _our_ song against us!” The other red headed guitarist exclaims.

“Oh --- look, she ---- stopped playing.” Rose says triumphantly, sipping her drink.

“Really, Rose?” Bart scoffs, and Tim takes a shy drink from his cola.

“We don’t get alarms, we just use my dad’s a-“

“You’re going to have to do better than that to defeat me!” Dick yells out. “Titans, together!”

“This is how we do.” They say in unison. “This is how we do.” The instruments are playing again, but this time Conner’s not sure how they’re making those sounds but whatever. He has a battle to win! “Dick, we’re friends!” Conner tries.

“What? Did you not get a formal letter saying that whatever I do to you when we’re defeating each other, don’t take it personally?”

“…No?”

“You didn’t read it! I was all like, or else you’ll be deemed UNWORTHY BLAH BLAH!” Dick laughed. “Oh, Conner.” The band’s already started the song, using the drummer’s vocals this time. Rose looks at the band again, and gives out a series of bleeping noises.

“Get ready for your first bat-family member!”

“You’re my second!”

“…What?”

God damn, Dick makes those famous puppy dog eyes and the crowd swoons, and it takes damage on Conner’s part. “Well, fine!” At least Dick adapts quickly?

“Playing ping pong all night long, everything’s neon and hazy,” It was a completely different genre, but it seemed the crowd didn’t mind. They were loving this.

 “It’s no big deal.” They sing, this time the attack is stronger. “It’s no big deal. It’s no big deal.”

“This is no big deal!” Conner interrupts, and suddenly Bart and Rose are dancing with him at his side. The Titans look dumbstruck. “This is how we do, yeah, chilling, laid back, straight stunting, yeah we do it like that. This is how we do.”

“This sucks.” Rose huffs, dancing the strange impromptu choreography.

But Dick won’t go down without a fight. “This is how we do,” he repeats, and he sings it so much better than Conner. “Do, do, do, do. This is how we do!” The crowd swoons at Dick’s perfect vocals, and perfect face, and perfect hair. Conner’s power bar goes down. If he had known their health status was determined by beauty, he would have had accepted his fate then and there.

“Tim? You think you could help out?” Conner asks, making Bart and Rose sing the song’s lyrics. “Big hoops, and maroon lips, my clique hoppin’ my Maserati,” Rose sings, and her voice would have been pretty nice, if it wasn’t for the fact that she looked like she wanted to explode. Tim sighs, looks at Conner, then at Dick, then back at Conner. “It’s embarrassing.” He mouths out, and Dick gives a shake of his head.

“Please?” Conner mouths, and Tim opens his bag shyly. He takes out his cellphone, drinks from his cola, and buries his face in his other hand. The tips of Tim’s ears are red.

Just then, Conner’s cellphone rings. And if his cellphone rings, that means…

“I stay up to late, got nothing in my brain, at least that’s what people say.”

The music stops, the singing stops, the crowd kind of stops, and “oh, what now?” is heard from the other red headed guitarist. “Is that…” Dick recoils at the music. “That’s what people say.” The song continues, and Conner realizes that Tim just called his phone.

“I go on one too many dates,” Taylor Swift isn’t the only who’s singing now, there’s some shy singing from the table. It’s Tim, and he just kind of stares at Conner, moving his head as if telling Conner to sing with him. “But I can’t make them stay. At least that’s what people say.”

Conner gets it.

“But I keep cruising! Can’t stop, won’t stop moving,” Conner, Bart and Rose start singing with him, and Tim’s voice is actually pretty nice. Conner reaches out to take Tim’s hand and, “It’s like I got this music in my head, saying it’s gonna be alright.”

It’s so damn catchy, the crowd is liking it.

“Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play,” and Tim’s just kind of dancing with them. Bart and Rose automatically copy Tim, and so does Conner, because Tim is such a cutie. Granted, Tim cannot dance. At all. But even with the awkward dancing, he does guess that was the point of the whole song. “And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.”

“What do we do, boss?” The bassist asks. “I can’t do it.” Dick mumbles. “Timmy-bro can’t dance to his favourite song.”

“ _This is your favourite song?”_ Conner exclaims, “Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake,” Tim says, blushing hard. “ _You’re a closeted Swiftie?”_

“I shake it off! I shake it off!”

They flail their hands, and the force comes out of it so fast, the Titans were too slow to dodge the catchiness of the song. The Titans try to fight back, but Dick’s too perfect and beautiful to dance as awkwardly as Tim’s team. Too perfect to defend, their beautiful lead singer Dick Grayson gets the most damage and falls off the rail. “No!” He cries, losing his power sparkles, and bursts into light, and then becomes this small prism. The crowd is just kind of chilling to the song.

“Oh, cool!” Conner picks up the prism in awe. “Is Dick going to be fine?”

The Titans shrug, but they seem pretty cool about it, so Dick’s probably going to be fine. “Can we leave, now?” Tim says awkwardly. “I didn’t know you liked Taylor Swift.”

“Can you not?” Tim sighs. Conner laughs, pockets all the coins, and holds Tim’s hand. “Okay, let’s go. We’ve had enough for the night, I think.”

Tim’s still kind of humming. “It’s still stuck in your head, huh?” Conner smiles. “It’s catchy!” Tim snaps.

“So, what is this?” Conner holds up the prism in his hand.

“I don’t know. You should probably take care of it, though.”

“Is it Dick? I mean, he did sparkle his way through light, right?”

“It isn’t scientifically possible for Dick to simply become a prism.”

“ _Scientifically possible?_ Did you _see_ anything that just happened a while ago?”

“Oh, whatever, Kon. Maybe it’s useless now, but it’s probably helpful later.”

“Huh. Yeah. That makes sense. Like a quest item, or a key.”

“Wow, you geek.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be honest and say the reason why this took so long was because this work is kind of in a hiatus? I'm not too fond of this work, but hopefully I'll be able to finish it for the sake of finishing fics. Hope you guys like it, though.


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